Lipid damage in farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) after slaughtering and chilled storage

The flow ice system including ozone (OFI condition) was tested for slaughtering and storage (up to 16 days) of farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Lipid damage analyses were carried out and compared to sensory acceptance and instrumental colour changes. Comparison to individuals processed with the flow ice system in the absence of ozone (FI condition) was undertaken. Rainbow trout slaughtered and chilled under FI and OFI conditions showed a low lipid damage development, according to lipid oxidation and hydrolysis events and lipid composition (polyunsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids and endogenous antioxidants) changes. Additionally, both icing conditions led to largely good quality and shelf life times and to the absence of changes in colour properties. It is concluded that flow ice as such, or including the presence of ozone, can be considered as ideal strategy to be employed as slaughtering and storage system during the commercialisation of the actual farmed species. The ozone presence has shown some profitable effects as leading to an extended shelf life time by quality retention of several sensory parameters; in contrast, some negligible negative effects could be observed on the secondary and tertiary lipid oxidation development. However, the oxidation values reached by individuals kept under OFI conditions cannot be considered as particularly high.     

FMAP: Distributed cooperative multi-agent planning

This paper proposes FMAP (Forward Multi-Agent Planning), a fully-distributed multi-agent planning method that integrates planning and coordination. Although FMAP is specifically aimed at solving problems that require cooperation among agents, the flexibility of the domain-independent planning model allows FMAP to tackle multi-agent planning tasks of any type. In FMAP, agents jointly explore the plan space by building up refinement plans through a complete and flexible forward-chaining partial-order planner. The search is guided by h _{D T G} , a novel heuristic function that is based on the concepts of Domain Transition Graph and frontier state and is optimized to evaluate plans in distributed environments. Agents in FMAP apply an advanced privacy model that allows them to adequately keep private information while communicating only the data of the refinement plans that is relevant to each of the participating agents. Experimental results show that FMAP is a general-purpose approach that efficiently solves tightly-coupled domains that have specialized agents and cooperative goals as well as loosely-coupled problems. Specifically, the empirical evaluation shows that FMAP outperforms current MAP systems at solving complex planning tasks that are adapted from the International Planning Competition benchmarks.     

Coreference resolution: an empirical study based on SemEval-2010 shared Task 1

This paper presents an empirical evaluation of coreference resolution that covers several interrelated dimensions. The main goal is to complete the comparative analysis from the SemEval-2010 task on Coreference Resolution in Multiple Languages. To do so, the study restricts the number of languages and systems involved, but extends and deepens the analysis of the system outputs, including a more qualitative discussion. The paper compares three automatic coreference resolution systems for three languages (English, Catalan and Spanish) in four evaluation settings, and using four evaluation measures. Given that our main goal is not to provide a comparison between resolution algorithms, these are merely used as tools to shed light on the different conditions under which coreference resolution is evaluated. Although the dimensions are strongly interdependent, making it very difficult to extract general principles, the study reveals a series of interesting issues in relation to coreference resolution: the portability of systems across languages, the influence of the type and quality of input annotations, and the behavior of the scoring measures.     

A hybrid solution to the multi-robot integrated exploration problem

In this paper we present a hybrid reactive/deliberative approach to the multi-robot integrated exploration problem. In contrast to other works, the design of the reactive and deliberative processes is exclusively oriented to the exploration having both the same importance level. The approach is based on the concepts of expected safe zone and gateway cell. The reactive exploration of the expected safe zone of the robot by means of basic behaviours avoids the presence of local minima. Simultaneously, a planner builds up a decision tree in order to decide between exploring the current expected safe zone or changing to other zone by means of travelling to a gateway cell. Furthermore, the model takes into account the degree of localization of the robots to return to previously explored areas when it is necessary to recover the certainty in the position of the robots. Several simulations demonstrate the validity of the approach.     

The Challenges of Cross-Modal Translation: English-to-Sign-Language Translation in the Zardoz System

The sign languages used by deaf communities around the world represent a linguistic challenge that natural-language researchers in AI have only recently begun to take up. This challenge is particularly relevant to research in Machine Translation (MT), as natural sign languages have evolved in deaf communities into efficient modes of gestural communication, which differ from English not only in modality but in grammatical structure, exploiting a higher dimensionality of spatial expression. In this paper we describe Zardoz, an on-going AI research system that tackles the cross-modal MT problem, translating English text into fluid sign language. The paper presents an architectural overview of Zardoz, describing its central blackboard organization, the nature of its interlingual representation, and the major components which interact through this blackboard both to analyze the verbal input and generate the corresponding gestural output in one of a number of sign variants.     

Land-use classification in central Spain using SIR-A and MSS imagery

Abstract

Methods for making more efficient use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery are considered. Local standard deviation and autocorrelation texture measures are used to provide information on the spatial variability in the scattering cross-section. Use of these statistics in a window of 180×180m improved classification success rates from 39 to 66 per cent with digitized shuttle imaging radar (S1R-A) data. Multispectral scanner (MSS) achieves 70 per cent success with the same window size and, by combining this with SAR, a 78 per cent success rate is reached.     

Comparative study between large-scale and small-scale electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation performed on AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel

This work optimizes the application of electrochemical potentiokinetic reactivation (EPR) to assess the degree of sensitization (DOS) of AISI 316L and compares the large-scale and small-scale EPR with the aim of improving the study of the different zones of AISI 316L welded joints by using an electrochemical minicell. The optimized EPR allows to discriminate better than the standardized EPR among different DOS. Small-scale EPR shows greater sensitivity to assess the DOS than large-scale EPR: (i) at lower deformation levels; (ii) for shorter sensitization times; (iii) when localized microstructural regeneration is caused by the combined effect of deformation and subsequent sensitization.     

Mass spectrometry fragmentation pattern of coloured flavanol‐anthocyanin and anthocyanin‐flavanol derivatives in aged red wines of Rioja

Background and Aims: During wine ageing, a great variety of reactions take place, resulting in an immense variety of products whose structure sometimes remains unknown. The aim of this work is the study of different fragmentation patterns of flavanol‐anthocyanin derivatives formed along the wine ageing; these patterns are useful for elucidating the different structures of these compounds and other new related ones. Methods and Results: Several wines from the Protected Denomination of Origin Rioja have been studied by an analytical method that combines column chromatography and high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass and tandem mass spectrometric detections. Thirty‐five coloured flavanol‐anthocyanin compounds formed by direct reaction or by acetaldehyde‐mediated condensation have been identified. For direct reaction derivatives, two different fragmentation patterns (one of them not previously reported) have been observed depending on the position of flavanol in the coloured derivative. Several compounds have been identified in aged wines for the first time to the authors' knowledge, like (+)‐gallocatechin‐cyanidin‐3‐glucoside and (+)‐catechin‐cyanidin‐3‐glucoside Conclusions: The developed analytical procedure has allowed the identification of some compounds for the first time, and two different fragmentation patterns have been observed depending on the position of flavanol in the pigment. Significance of the Study: The establishment of different fragmentation patterns allows the structural elucidation of unknown compounds.     

EATING QUALITY OF “FUJI” APPLES AFFECTED BY A PERIOD OF COLD AIR AFTER ULO STORAGE

ABSTRACT

Over two subsequent seasons, emission of volatile compounds, consumer acceptability and quality parameters were analyzed in “Fuji” apples. In both seasons, apples were harvested at the same maturity stage and stored for 19 or 30 weeks at 1C and 92% relative humidity under an ultralow oxygen (ULO) atmosphere (1% O₂ + 1% CO₂) or under an ULO atmosphere followed by different periods (2 or 4 weeks) in cold air. The results revealed, for both seasons, that 4 weeks of cold air storage after ULO storage helped to increase the emission of some volatile compounds for both storage period, including characteristic volatile compounds for the variety, and did not have a negative effect on quality parameters. Additionally, the consumer acceptability was superior for those fruits.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

It is well known for various apple varieties that long‐term storage under ULO conditions reduces volatile production resulting in poor flavor and aroma compared with fruits stored in air. Consequently, there is often dissatisfaction among consumers with the flavor of fruits which have been subjected to cold storage. The strategy that is proposed in the present work could be recommended to enhance the aromatic quality of fruit provided by the apple industry and, in consequence, increase its acceptability by consumers.